I've owned my 04.5 for two months, yesterday the lift pump failed on the freeway. I had the truck towed to Stevens Creek Dodge in San Jose, Ca to get it fixed under the transfered 7/100 warranty. While the truck was there I wanted the high idle enabled, but the service writer demanded $145 to do so. Now it has been a full day and I have yet to hear back about the progress with my truck. I'm getting frustrated with the poor serivice.
I'm wondering if this is a common experience with dealerships? Or if I should have the truck towed to the next nearest dealership in Hayward, at Hartzeim Dodge?

 

Don't jump the gun on them just yet, $ to engage the idle is by the dealership, the demanded part is harsh. Make a phone call to them to see if your vehicle is ready. Sometimes things get hectic and owners are not called right away the instant a tech is done with things. Could be a parts issue as well.

Solution about the $ for the high idle, locate a local with a smarty to enable it for you, or call other dealers to see what they can do for you.

GL

 

Yea , I wouldn`t consider one day and no phone call ,poor service...the $145 seems high though.

Good luck to you , hope they get it fixed.

 

Thanks guys for the feedback. I'll back off the dealership, I was still a little irked from the $145 for the high idle and the $50 for the six rubber bumpers for the fold up rear seat that was rattling.

 

Our dealership always stock the retrofit fuel pumps since we install so many of them. Not a very big job but will take usually 1.5 hrs or so since tanks needs to be dropped down. Should include a flash with repair to update ECM. To enable high idle on auto trans is no big deal and should be done for customer satisfaction. Just ask service writer since you are a new customer there, if they want your business they will do it n/c

 

If you take your truck to a dealer with an appointment and they also tell you it will be completed same-day and they do not fulfill their words - they should do the high idle enable for free as a good will gesture to make nice with you regarding the extended timeframe.

A tow-in usually gets fit-in. And many times the person at the desk ASSUMES that a part is in stock when they tell you something regarding a completion time/day - not always works out that way unfortunately.

Did you ask them WHEN they would be working on your truck? Did you ask them IF they had the parts or make sure they in fact DID have them? And if the parts were not in stock, what the parts acquisition/delay time would be to get the parts in? And finally, did you ask them when they expected to have your truck completed at the outermost timeframe to do the work?

You would be very suprised as to how differently they will respond to you communicatively AFTER you have shown them your hand with all the right questions up front.

You do need to emphasize to them that there ARE several dealerships that you can easily access and that GOOD service, timely repair/service time really mean a lot to you when becoming a customer, and possibly a repeat customer.



On a seperate related note of experience with a dealership -just FYI regarding dealerships where I live - my closest dealership is about 35-40 mins travel time from my home, the next closest is 1-1/2 hours, and the next closest is 2-1/2 hours - I actually will no longer use my local dealer for anything whatsoever because they have no respect for their customers, they assume you to be a captive audience to their services, they work at whatever pace and don't care about your needs to get things done in a timely manner, and every time I take my truck into their shop I have a new scratch in my paint somewhere, a new cut/scratch in my interior somewhere, a new grease spot to labor getting out of my carpet, seats, or have to all but detail my interior to clean up after them, and also the greasy handprints all over the exterior as well. I won't even start on the list of things that get damaged when they are working on something non-related to why my truck is there. I will just leave my comments as they are and say that I will never return to them for anything whatsoever.


CD

 

and BINGO was his name-o....... CD hit the nail right on the head.I see this all the time at work (motorcycle dealership) people come in at want their stuff fixed and back to them in a few hours, not saying you were that way but this is an example, and sometimes its just not possible because of parts that are not in stock or the job simply takes longer then a few hours to complete. The best thing to do in my opinion is when you drop it off as about the availabilty of parts (have them check to make sure), get an estimated time that your truck will be pulled into the shop and worked on and an estimated time that it will be finished. ( I say estimated because stuff sometimes does happen that makes the job take longer as well as the other way around sometimes it gets done sooner then planned.) This way you and the dealer are on the same page with the work being done to your vehicle. Yes sometimes things get hectic and a phone call is not placed to inform you on the status. We are all only human after all but dont be afraid to call up and ask, its your truck and you have the right to know how things are coming along.

Sorry for the long post but I didnt want to be vauge, HTH.....

 

The ironic part is I had an appointment scheduled for 8am at the dealership I had the truck towed to. I scheduled the appointment to get the high idle enabled and to order some miscellaneous parts. The service writer said that because I had an appointment they would get right on it, as it was towed in at about 8:30 am. I left a message on his phone today, and now it is two days at the dealership and no call to even give me a timeframe.

 

Leaving a message suggests to me that you are trying to contact them after business hours (??). Regardless, I'd be calling the dealership service department early this am when they open. You will probably always get a service writer on the line, and they should know the status of your truck.

Dealerships DO have service managers, try asking to speak with that person. If your dealership has an 'operator' who manages incoming calls, as that person the dervice managers name before being transfered to him/her, that way if you are getting their mailbox and having to leave a message, you at least know who you are leaving a message for.

If they do not return your call, move up the ladder/chain of command. Dealerships have an overall manager and also an owner. Someone higher up WILL surely take note of your concerns and see that you get some kind of information/response.

You are now two days out, no one seems to care about telling you some kind of status or giving you information, that kind of behavior seems to me to be out of line as SERVICE does a lot of things to include communication. I'd be going to the dealership personally to see what's up since no one will take the time to call you back, not spending time on the phone if it seems to be a useless endeavor.

I believe that there have been many discussions regarding parts shortages at dealers, seems that 'stock' parts are having problems. You may need to push your dealership into seeking an 'aftermarket' part from a local parts store. They HATE to go outside their in-house methods, but if all the other area dealerships are out of stock regarding the parts your truck needs and a genuine Mopar part is not available then you have every right to persue getting your truck repaired even if it means you personally getting the part yourself and having them install it. Suggest to them that YOU WILL take that step as you want/need your truck operational and in service. IF this vehicle is your only means of transportation and the timeframe is becoming a hardship or is leading to one, push them some, maybe they will cough up a loaner vehicle.

Unfortunately, you are at their mercy when your truck is down, but they could at least take the minute or two of time to tell you whats going on and why this timeframe exists. Anything less is just down right RUDE.

You at least have other nearby dealerships to check into for any future needs that may arise that may be much better at overall service and communication. Since times are becoming more and more tough and businesses are struggling some regarding income, your dealership is on a path of cutting their nose off to spite their face, it WILL come back to haunt them with your future needs and probably many other people are having the same 'bums rush' you're getting, they will see services elsewhere as well.


CD

 

Camp, call the dealership again to see if you can get a progress report and when you speak to them inform them about the message you left and that it's been 2 days with no call back and you are curious about the progress made. If brought to their attention it might benefit you down the road cause they will realize they need to be on top of that a little better. (returning calls) but definately do call them again. Good luck

 

Thanks guys for calming me down a bit. I finally got a call from the service writer this morning, bad news is the retrofit in-tank lift pump is on a "national backorder" and is "one to two weeks out". This sucks, opening weekend for archery deer season in California and no truck to get me there.

 

I believe Hartzheim is one of the dealers who was closed by Dodge.

 

What are the chances of you getting your own aftermarket pump and having them install it? Sounds better than letting your truck sit for weeks , even if it costs you a little out of pocket in the end.

 

My "preferred" local dealer (the one where they don't seem to think it's their business to give customers a hard time) charged me $17 for the high idle. No appointment necessary. I called ahead and talked to a service writer who said "sure, just stop by anytime and we can probably squeeze you in, only takes a few minutes."

 

My dealer enabled the fast idle option for me for free. But I did and still do use them for some PM's and cultivated a relationship with them. The service manager, all the service writers, and the tech's that work on diesels there ALL know me by name.

I would talk with the service manager and ask him about the national back order and what can be done to remedy this problem faster. His first response will probably be "there is nothing we can do about it". That would be when I started asking questions that help him to think outside the box. Have this conversation in person. Be polite and business like. If you can not come up with a solution, ask him to call the area rep while you are sitting there with the SM. Chrysler should either produce the oem part or provide you with an aftermarket solution on their nickle.